Ireland SRESS: small-scale solar and wind project monitoring

Ireland's Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS) supports renewable projects between domestic microgeneration and the grid-scale RESS auction. The Department presents two different routes: a self-consumer grant for eligible solar installations and an export tariff for projects that export all the electricity they generate.

The commercial choice comes before the monitoring design. A project using generated electricity behind the meter is not an export-only project. A project accepted for the SRESS export tariff cannot also receive the self-consumer grant or the Clean Export Guarantee for the same generation. Confirm the route, applicant entity, technology, installed capacity and grid connection before preparing a financial model.

Current SRESS export scope

The scheme opened for applications on 27 January 2025. The Department's page, updated on 4 March 2026, states these capacity bands.

Solar PV and wind are the current eligible technologies. A hybrid project needs the exact category and installed-capacity treatment in the current Terms and Conditions. Acceptance is also subject to the capacity available for the relevant tariff category.

Do not treat a 50 kW nameplate as being over 50 kW. Do not assume that the inverter total, module DC total, wind-turbine rating, Maximum Export Capacity and scheme Installed Capacity are interchangeable. Record each quantity, its unit, the document that defines it and the calculation used in the application.

Rates published while the 2026 review is open

The Department started a tariff review in February 2026. It says the existing community and SME rates remain available until the review concludes. The review can retain, change or remove a tariff, subject to ministerial approval. The rates below therefore describe the scheme page updated on 4 March 2026, rather than a promise for a later application.

The export support is a two-way premium. The mechanism protects the supported revenue when the market reference is below the tariff and returns excess revenue to the Public Service Obligation when it is above the tariff. A business case therefore needs the current Terms and Conditions, the applicable market arrangement and the live tariff decision. Multiplying expected generation by the headline rate is not a complete revenue model.

Export only means a distinct electrical and commercial boundary

An SRESS export project cannot consume its generated electricity on site. That rule needs more than a label in a spreadsheet. The single-line diagram, connection agreement, metering arrangement, auxiliary supplies and operating logic must describe the same boundary.

Keep these quantities separate:

• gross renewable generation at each inverter or turbine group;
• station and equipment auxiliary consumption;
• import used to supply the project when generation is unavailable;
• export at the agreed grid connection point;
• Maximum Export Capacity and any active export limit; and
• the approved quantity used for market and SRESS settlement.

Auxiliary loads can sit on either side of a measurement point depending on the design. State their source and treatment explicitly. If operational generation minus measured auxiliaries does not reconcile with grid export, investigate timestamps, transformer losses, meter ratios, sign conventions and unmeasured loads before calling the difference lost generation.

Connection and scheme evidence are separate

The SRESS application information asks for project identity, technology, installed capacity, Maximum Export Capacity, planning and grid-connection information. Community projects can follow a different connection-evidence path from other applicants. The current application pack and Terms and Conditions control what must be submitted.

ESB Networks controls the distribution connection and assesses whether the installed meter can measure export. Its published customer guidance says that meters for installations exporting between 50 kVA and 200 kVA are assessed for suitability and may be reconfigured or replaced. Larger or project-specific connections follow their applicable connection process.

An operational meter installed by the owner does not replace that approved export meter. It serves a different purpose: rapid fault detection, unit-level performance, reconciliation and evidence for maintenance. The operational and settlement metering guide explains how to keep those records distinct.

Monitoring plan for a small solar or wind project

Build the operating record from the connection point inward.

1. Grid boundary. Record three-phase active and reactive power, voltage, current, power factor, frequency, cumulative import and cumulative export at the project side of the connection.
2. Generating units. Record power, energy, operating state, availability, active limit, alarm and communications quality for each inverter, turbine or defined group.
3. Resource. For solar, retain representative irradiance and module temperature. For wind, retain the approved wind and turbine records used by the operator. Resource measurements explain expected production; they do not replace energy meters.
4. Auxiliaries. Measure transformer, control, heating, cooling, communications and other station-service loads where they can materially change net export.
5. Limits. Record Maximum Export Capacity, the live export set point, its source and the measured response. A command acknowledgement does not prove delivered power.
6. Events. Preserve trips, curtailment, communications loss, maintenance and return-to-service times against the same clock used for interval energy.

Use a documented sign convention and interval-close rule. Missing data stays missing with a quality flag. Replacing a lost reading with zero can create false downtime; carrying the last value forward can create false generation.

Commissioning checks before relying on the data

• Match each data source to the project single-line diagram, asset identifier, model and firmware.
• Confirm current-transformer ratio, phase order and direction during known import and export conditions.
• Compare interval and cumulative values with the local equipment display and an independent reference.
• Reconcile inverter or turbine output, auxiliaries and grid exchange over a complete operating day.
• Record the clock source, time zone, interval length, expected latency and recovery after a communications outage.
• Cause one known alarm and confirm its timestamp, owner, acknowledgement and clearing state.
• Test any enabled set point within an approved limit, then verify the physical response with an independent power measurement.
• Preserve the configuration and interface-document revision with the commissioning record.

These checks make the operational record useful. They do not establish scheme eligibility, meter approval, electrical protection compliance or entitlement to payment.

Where EpiSensor fits

EpiSensor can provide independent three-phase measurement at the project and equipment boundaries, collect weather and auxiliary data, and integrate documented Modbus or BACnet points through an on-site Edge Gateway. Local storage can preserve measurements during an upstream outage and forward them when communications recover.

That record helps an owner distinguish poor resource, an equipment fault, an export limit and a meter disagreement. It can also support maintenance and financial reconciliation. The approved ESB Networks meter, connection protection, market participant and Department records retain their formal roles.

Start with the solar PV monitoring guide for a PV project. For a larger auction project, use the separate RESS 6 guide.